Window operator



1952 J. R. OISHEI ET AL 2,619,939

WINDOW OPERATOR Filed June 15, 1946 ATTORNEY) Patented Dec. 2, 1952WINDOW OPERATOR John R. Oishei, Buffalo, and Anton Rappl, Eg-

gcrtsville, N. Y., assignors to Trice Products Corporation, Buffalo, N.Y.

Application, June 15, 1946, Serial No. 676,925

Claims.

This invention relates to the window operator art and particularly to anoperator for the windows of motor vehicles, the same being animprovement on the disclosure made in Letters Patent No. 2,501,092,issued March 21, 1950, wherein there is illustrated a pneumatic motorconnected by a flexible transmission to the window panel for impartingrapid movement to the latter toward and from its closed position. Whilethe window is air operated and therefore may be readily arrested becauseof the compressibility of the gaseous fluid, nevertheless there is apotential danger of personal injury resulting from a finger or otherpart of the body being caught in the window as it moves so rapidly toits seat.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved windowoperator in which resides an increased factor of safety whereby a safeoperation will be secured while maintaining the desired fast closingmovement.

A further object of the invention is to provide a window operator inwhich the final closing movement of the window will be retarded tolessen the impact of the window upon its seat, or upon any interposedobject, and will result in an easing of the window into its seat firmlybut Without likelihood of personal harm.

The invention also has for its object to provide a window system inwhich the fast window movement is modified to a safe degree as thewindow approaches its seat while enabling a, fast reverse or openingWindow movement from the start to avoid delay in opening the windowwhere prompt action is urgent, such as for giving a signal.

The foregoing and other objects will manifest themselves as thedescription progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevation of the improved window operator, withportions of the window being shown in fragment;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view showim; more particularly themotion retarding means; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the retarding means.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral I designates aside window of an automobile and 2 the vertical channeled guides inwhich the window panel is slidably mounted. The lower edge of the windowpanel has bracket arms 3 serving to mount the panel on a pair ofverticalflight portions 4 of a flexible transmisslon 5 which latter issuitably mounted on pulleys 6 journaled at the upper ends of uprightframe members! and also by drums 8 journaled on the opposite ends of thefluid motor casing 9. The casing has a chamber In in which moves aself-lockingpiston H which, in turn, is coupled by a flexible piston rodl2 to smaller drums [3. Each drum I3 is associated with one of the drums8 and is fixed therewith upon a shaft I4 to rotate therewith. A controlvalve 15 is interposed in the suction or fluid pressure line I 6 toselectively connect the opposite ends of the chamber Ill, as throughbranch conduits IT, to the source of pressure, the control valve [5being selectively actuated by suitable button valves I8. All of theforegoing is more clearly disclosed in the aforesaid patent, theoperation being that when the source of subatmospheric pressure orsuction is connected to the right .end .of the chamber I9, the Windowwill be lowered to its open position and when the suction is connectedto the left end of the chamber, the window panel will be elevated to aclosed position against its seat at the upper side of the windowopening.

In accordance with the present invention, means are provided to retardthe speed of the window in the final portion of its travel to a closedposition. In the present disclosure, this is accomplished by throttlingthe pressure communication and to this end the left branch conduit H iscaused to open into the chamber Ii] through a passage [9 inthe head 2|!which passage extends from thewchamber in the direction of pistonmovement. Carried by the piston H is a, valve or throttling member inthe form of a pin 2| arranged to enter the passage [9 as the pistonapproaches its limit of travel toward the head or left end wall 20 ofthe chamber. An annular valve member 22 is arranged in a counterbore 23which forms a valve chamber in the entranceway to the passage IS. Thevalving ring 22 receives the pin 2| with a predetermined clearance andis adapted to have sealing contact with a seat 24. A clearance offrom'two to five thousandths of an inch may suflice. This has the effectof reducing the capacity of the passage 19 and therefore serves toreduce the pressure differential acting upon the piston. Consequently,the rate of movement will be likewise reduced and the window will easeinto its seat. Should a persons hand or finger be interposed between themoving panel and its seat, he will have ample time to effect a, safewithdrawal, but should he fail to do so, the impact of the window willbe lightened or minimized by reason of the reduction in the speed oftravel and avoid serious injury.

The foregoing construction will enable the desired fast movement for themajor portion of window travel, followed by a prescribed retard. Ifdesired, the restriction could be effected by the throttling pin alonebut in that event the retard would be objectionable for window openingmovement since the window would respond slowly at the start and this maybe undesirable under conditions which require the utmost speed. Thisundesirable feature is avoided by having the valving ring unseatimmediately upon the start of the reverse piston movement and therebyestablish unrestricted communication with the adjacent conduit H. Inother words, the restriction is bypassed so as to permit free ingress ofthe outside air into the left end of the motor chamber. For this purposethe valve 22 is loosely retained within its chamber 23 by an overhangingcage 25. The diameter of the opening through the ring valve is less thanthat of the passage [9, the clearance between the passage wall and thethrottling pin being sufiicient to offer no substantial resistance toair flow into the motor chamber. By thus utilizing the ring valve todetermine the throttling eificiency, a practical construction isprovided in which the window retarding clearance may be economicallyprovided. The small amount of such clearance will ordinarily cause thevalve 22 to unseat by mechanical attachment to the throttling pin withor without the aid of the inflowing air.

As above set forth, the length of the throttling pin will determine themoment at which the retard will be impressed upon the window travel.This retard may be confined only to a particular portion of the path ofwindow travel (such as the point at which impact against the hand wouldordinarily occur if interposed in the path) and thereafter resume itsfast speed to its seat. For this purpose the throttling pin is shownwith a reduced part 26 which will pass into the ring valve and therebymore fully open the communication with the suction line as the pistoncontinues its leftward movement. The overall result is that the windowwill hesitate momentarily in its movement and thereafter resume itsfaster speed for the remainder of its path of travel to the window seat,the latter being indicated at 21. This will serve to preclude the fullimpact of the fast moving window upon any interposed object while at thesame time maintain the time interval for closing the window at aminimum.

While the foregoing description has been given in detail, it is withoutthought of limiting the invention thereby since the inventive principlesare capable of assuming other physical embodiments without departingfrom the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a window operating device, a fluid mtor having a piston andchamber construction with the pressure responsive member of the motoroperable to move a connected window, fluid passages opening into thechamber at opposite sides of the piston and alternately connectible to asource of pressure for so moving the member, one passage having anannular seat thereabout, a pressure responsive ring-like valve engagingthe seat, and a valve pin on one motor part operating through saidring-like valve with a predetermined clearance for retarding the windowclosing movement of the member, said pin having a reduced partcooperating with the ring-like valve to restore the fluid pressurecommunication for a faster movement after the momentary retard, and saidring-like valve unseating by and upon reverse fluid flow through saidone passage to maintain the faster movement in reverse as the pinwithdraws from the ring-like valve.

2. In a window operating device, a fluid motor having a pressureresponsive member operatively connectible to a window for moving thesame, fluid passages opening into the opposite sides of the motor andalternately connectible to a source of pressure for so moving saidmember, one passage having an annular seat thereabout, a ringlike valvecooperating with the seat, and a valve pin received by said ring-likevalve with a predetermined clearance to restrict fluid flow forretarding the window closing movement of the member, said pin having areduced part for entering the ring-like valve to open and restore fullfluid pressure communication for a faster movement after the momentaryretard, said ring-like valve moving away from the seat upon a reverseoperation of the motor to enable unretarded opening movement of thewindow.

3. In a window operating device, a fluid motor having a pressureresponsive member movable back and forth for moving a window, fluidpassages alternately connectible to a source of pressure for operatingthe motor, a valve pin carried by said member and slidable thereby intoone of said passages during a portion of its movement to restrict flowtherethrough, a valve seat encircling the passage, a pressure responsivevalve adapted to engage said seat in response to fluid pressuredischarging out of said passage when restricted by said pin, said valvehaving an opening therein of less diameter than the diameter of thepassage and of greater diameter than the pin to further restrict saidpassage when in seated position, means normally supporting said ringlikevalve at an outer peripheral edge portion with its opening substantiallyaligned for receiving said valve pin during movement of said pressureresponsive member, said valve being displaceable from its seat by thereversal of flow through said passage, and stop means for limitingtthemovement of said valve away from its sea 4. The structure of claim 3characterized in that the valve pin is provided with a reduced partspaced inwardly from its free end, the reduced part cooperating with thering-like valve to restore the fluid pressure communication for a fastermovement after a momentary retard.

5. In a window operating device, a fluid motor having a pressureresponsive member movable back and forth for moving a window, fluidpassages alternately connectible to a source of pressure for operatingthe motor, a valve pin having a reduced outer end portion carried bysaid member and. slidable thereby into one passage during a portion ofits movement to restrict flow therethrough, a valve seat encircling thepassage, a pressure responsive valve adapted to engage said seat inresponse to fluid pressure discharging out of said passage whenrestricted by said pin, said valve having an opening therein of lessdiameter than the diameter of the passage and of greater diameter thanthe pin to further restrict said passage when in seated position, avalve cage normally supporting said ring-like valve at its outerperipheral edge portion with its opening slightly out of alignment withsaid pin forreceiving the reduced end portion thereof during movement ofthe pressure responsive member, said valve during movement of the pintherein seating upon said pin in frictional engagement therewith,whereby movement of said pin will influence movement of the valve withrespect to its seat in a direction corresponding to the movement of thepin, and stop means for limiting the movement of the valve away from itsseat.

JOHN R. OISHEI.

ANTON RAPPL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Osmer Sept. 29, 1908 Nelson Aug. 23,1927 Forman July 31, 1928 Whitesell Sept. 13, 1932 Knecht Dec, 20, 1932Hume Dec. 23, 1941 Shetzline July 6, 1943 Rappl Dec. 11, 1945

